The 2026 COSAFA U-20 Youth Championship which also served as the TotalEnergies CAF U-20 AFCON | COSAFA Qualifier, was the 31st edition of the COSAFA U-20 Youth Championship, the international youth football championship organised by COSAFA for the men's under-20 national teams of Southern Africa.

Initially scheduled to be held in Mauritius from 18 to 27 September 2026, the tournament was relocated to Mozambique weeks before the start, with the dates remaining unchanged.

South Africa were the defending champions, having defeated Malawi 3–0 in the final of last year. And they successfully retained their title, defeating hosts Mozambique 2–1 in the final to win their third consecutive title and 11th overall. Participation A total of 12 of the 14 COSAFA member associations entered teams for the competition, with Comoros, Lesotho, Mauritius, Mozambique and Seychelles returning to the tournament. Participating teams

TeamLastPrevious best performance202520252024202520242025202220242025202220252025 Did not enter

– ZIFA decided not to enter the tournament in order to focus on reorganising its youth football structures and establishing a more structured scouting and player-development system. And stated that it wanted to ensure its youth national teams had adequate preparation, a properly identified player pool and a clear technical programme before returning to international competition.

Venues

Match officials Referees

Keabetswe Dintwa Sanele Ntimane Lominson Todihajaniaina Arnaud Zafimahatoha David Chinoko Eness Gumbo Celso Alvação Mweshitsama Negongo Akhona Makalima Eugine Mdluli Charles Ng'andwe

Assistant referees

Leungo Tsogang Soulaimane Amaldine Romuald Ibenantenaina Louis Cauvelet Zacarias Baloi Inocêncio Lourenço

Alex Lumponjani Kgara Mokoena Francis Swaba Polite Dube

Draw The draw was held on 12 August 2026 at 13:00 CAT (UTC+2) in Johannesburg, South Africa.

For the purposes of the draw, the teams were ranked according to their results in the previous three COSAFA U-20 Championships. Hosts Mauritius were automatically seeded in position A1, while the two highest-ranked teams, South Africa and Zambia, were seeded in positions B1 and C1, respectively. The remaining nine teams were divided into three pots of three teams each, with a separate set of three pots determining the group positions. Pot 1Pot 2Pot 3 The groups remained unchanged after Mauritius was replaced as host.

Group stage

Group A

Group B

Group C

Ranking of second-placed teams

Knockout stage Bracket

Semi-finals

Third place

Final

Goalscorers

See also 2026 COSAFA Under-17 Championship

References